1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to data protection systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for continuous data protection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many enterprises utilize block level incremental backup (BLIB) technologies to regularly backup critical data. Recently, continuous data protection (CDP) systems have been developed to ensure that all new data stored and all modifications to previously stored data are continuously replicated to a storage appliance. A CDP system is configured to remotely store data associated with every write request that is sent to local storage of a computer. By storing the data associated with every write request, the system ensures that a copy of data stored on a vulnerable, local disk drive is remotely stored and made available in case of disk drive failure. Since every write request is stored, upon restoring the data, no data will be lost.
A CDP appliance is typically connected to a data network to enable a plurality of computers to simultaneously utilize the appliance. In enterprise systems, many computers may alter a particular file within a server or the computers may store and alter the same file locally. Such editing leads to multiple copies of the same file stored on the same server or on multiple computers in a network. Each copy of the file and every modification/addition of data blocks within the file are stored in the CDP appliance. Since every write request generated by each computer within the network is communicated to the CDP appliance, the common files and portions thereof on the various computers are duplicated within the CDP appliance. Such duplication inefficiently uses storage space and processor bandwidth of the CDP appliance.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for continuous data protection that improves storage space utilization and data processing efficiency.